PROVIDENCE -- Gary Gaudreau owned a gym on York Avenue in Pawtucket for 23 years before it burned to rubble during a wind-driven snowstorm in 2009.
The police suspected the fire was intentionally set and immediately fixed on then 71-year-old Gaudreau as the culprit. He had reported a break-in at his house at the time of the fire and had burns on his calves.
The police charged Gaudreau with first-degree arson and falsely reporting the break-in at his Hutchinson Street home.
On Thursday, following a week-long trial in which Gaudreau took the stand, a jury found the now 76-year-old guilty of arson. He remains to be tried on the filing a false police report charge.
In doing so, the jury accepted the prosecutor's account that Gaudreau had burned the Physique Company to the ground for $125,000 in insurance money after growing weary of scraping by in life.
"This defendant formulated a plan at some point. He was tired of his gym," Special Assistant Attorney General John H. Dean said. Then, he had to cover his tracks after he burned himself and dropped a fanny pack carrying his .44 Taurus handgun, credit cards, and cash at the scene, he said.
Gaudreau's lawyers had argued Gaudreau's gym was his livelihood, his social scene, his life. The state's theory of the case just didn't make sense, Michelle Alves, assistant public defender, said.
She faulted detectives for zeroing in on Gaudreau too quickly, at the expense of a thorough investigation.
"They arrested Mr. Gaudreau before even knowing if the fire had intentionally been lit," Alves said.
It was Gaudreau's second trial after a jury was unable to agree on a verdict last year. Gaudreau, who had been on home-confinement, was taken in to custody after Thursday's verdict.
The story was first posted at 12:50 p.m.